Adolescent antisocial behaviour: Changes over time and across the lifecourse

Antisocial behaviour (ASB) in children and young people is a complex phenomenon, making it difficult to define consistently across different contexts and over time. It can generally be characterised by a range of behaviours, such as rule breaking, stealing and acts of aggression that run counter to social norms and potentially negatively impact on others. ASB can constitute a criminal offence, depending on the nature and severity of the behaviour. Involvement in ASB can reflect the turmoil of adolescent development, with such behaviour often limited to the early teenage years. However, for some, this behaviour may persist into later adolescence and early adulthood, with significant implications for educational outcomes, personal and social development, and in more serious cases, criminal sanctions. There has been a lack of large-scale empirical research in Ireland on the processes of change in ASB over the adolescent years and the consequences of such behaviour for later outcomes. Cohort ’98 of the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) study provides a unique opportunity to explore the prevalence of ASB, its drivers and consequences, while Cohort ’08 allows us to explore the extent to which patterns of ASB among 13-year-olds have changed over a decade.

Cohort ’98 was initially sampled at 9 years of age, on the basis of the school attended, and followed at 13, 17/18,1 20 and 25 years of age. At 13 and 17 years of age, young people were asked to report the frequency with which they had engaged in different kinds of ASB over the past year. Because violent behaviour in adolescence can be a predictor of later aggression and may already meet the threshold for a criminal offence, the study distinguishes between non-violent and violent ASB. Non-violent ASB comprised paying the incorrect bus/train fare, behaving badly in public, graffiti, and taking something without permission from home, school or a shop. Violent ASB comprised carrying a knife or other weapon and hitting, kicking or punching someone else.

The study addresses the following research questions: 

1. Has the prevalence of ASB changed over time (that is, between Cohorts ’98 and ’08 at 13 years of age)? If so, has it changed for some groups more than others? 

2. To what extent does ASB persist into later adolescence? 

3. What consequences does this trajectory have for early adult outcomes, including education, health and wellbeing, labour market and social relationships?